Chapter 13: Valentine's Day Special (I)
(Tuesday, February 14th 2012 – 8:45am; Tidmouth Sheds)
Simon, Carrie and the other recruits and most of the engine crews were busy getting ready for their next day of work. Today was Valentine's Day at last, and it was when the Valentine's Day Specials would be run on the railway, and many of the engines, as they warmed up in readiness for their long day of work ahead, were all wondering who amongst them would be pulling the trains this year. There were a number of different Valentine's Day Specials that were run on Sodor every February 14th, but the most prestigious of them all was the one that ran from Vicarstown to Knapford along the north coast of the Island of Sodor, simply because it was on the longest mainline on the island and passed through some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere on Sodor, including going by high mountains, through gentle valleys, and along flat farmland. It also passed very near to the coastline in some places, offering the passengers travelling on the train some good views of the open sea around the north coast of Sodor.
After clocking in and changing into their new set of clean overalls in the changing rooms upstairs, Carrie and Simon were assigned to work with No.91075 Michael, who was one of the big three-cylinder B.R. Standard 9MT-1 2-8-2 Mikado's with 5ft 8in driving wheels, today. Michael was a very experienced engine, and had worked very hard on the main line as part of British Railways in the 1950's and 60's, and was bought from B.R. by Sodor not long after he was withdrawn from service. And ever since he had arrived on Sodor, along with two of his other fellow 9MT-1's, he had been a really useful engine by working really hard on Sodor at hauling heavy passenger and freight trains all over the island since the late-60's. (18)
(18): The fictional B.R. Standard 9MT-1 three-cylinder 2-8-2 with 5ft 8in wheels, also known as "Big-Wheeled Mikado's" to their crews and to enthusiasts, first came into service on B.R. back in early 1954 with the first example of the class, No.91000 R.A. Riddles, leaving Crewe Works in January of that year as the very first member of a class that would eventually grow to 226 members. Of these, 110 examples were built at Crewe Works and the rest were built at Swindon. The very last example to be built, No.91225, rolled out from Swindon Works on December 23rd, 1958.
The design is basically a three-cylinder 2-8-2 version of the two-cylinder B.R. Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 heavy freight locomotives, of which the class bears a very strong, near-family resemblance, right down to the design of the smoke deflectors. The three cylinders are 20in in diameter with a 28in piston stroke. That, combined with the 5ft 8in driving wheels and a boiler pressure of 250psi, gave the class a tractive effort of 52,500 pounds, making them one of the strongest classes of steam locomotive ever to be used on the British railway network. It meant that the class was more than capable of hauling any type of train of any weight they were tasked with doing, and could also turn in some impressive performances in terms of speed.
They were one of two classes of B.R. Standard 9MT 2-8-2's with three cylinders to be built, and were known as 9MT-1 with the second class of 2-8-2 Mikado, which had slightly smaller 5ft 3in driving wheels, being known as 9MT-2.
Of the 226 examples of the 9MT(1) that were built, only No.91000 was even given a name at all, and was named R.A. Riddles , in honour of Robert Riddles, the last Chief Mechanical Engineer (C.M.E.) of British Railways who designed the standard range of steam locomotives for B.R. Painted in B.R. Passenger Green Livery, R.A. Riddles was given a copper-capped double chimney and G.W.R. style nameplates fitted to the smoke deflectors, very much like B.R. 9F No.92220 Evening Star when she was rolled out in March 1960. Also, No.91000 was fitted with British Caprotti valve gear which was paired with the double chimney with had a Kylchap exhaust system fitted within it.
Built to haul fast fitted freights and to work on pulling heavy, long haul passenger trains, the class worked all over the British Railway network, going wherever weight restrictions would allow them to go, including the West Coast Main Line and the London Midland Region, the Western Region, throughout much of the Scottish Region, the Southern Region, along the length of the Great Central Main Line, within the North-Eastern Region and all along the East Coast Main Line and throughout the Eastern Region. Coupled to large tenders which carried plenty of coal, about 7.5 tons, and also had a considerable water capacity, somewhere between 8,000 to 8,500 gallons, the engines had a considerable range.
Initially, many B.R. enginemen, especially those from the former "Big Four", were very sceptical of these big 2-8-2's, especially as very few British railway companies had ever used the wheel arrangement on British soil before. But once the enginemen got to know their charges, the type quickly became a very popular one with the crews as well as a very reliable class, and easily able to do just about anything that was asked of it, from lengthy fast passenger trains to slow unfitted freights. The class were known for being very easy machines to drive - something very common to all the other locomotives of the B.R. Standard Classes - as well as for being very smooth riders, particularly when they ran at speed.
Because the locomotives of the class were also fitted with self-cleaning smokeboxes, rocking grates and hopper ashpans, as well as other labour saving devices - just like the other B.R. Standard Steam Classes - they were very easy to prepare and dispose of.
Some experiments were made with the design, especially with regard to the arrangement of the valve gear and cylinders. Some examples of the class – including No.91000– were fitted with British Caprotti rotary cam poppet valve gear – just like that fitted on No.71000 Duke of Gloucester – and double chimneys paired with Kylchap exhaust systems, which proved highly successful and gave the engines so-fitted a decisive edge over other members of the class, particularly in terms of more economical coal and water consumption. It was helped by the fact their internal steam passages were streamlined.
With their 5ft 8in diameter driving wheels, they also proved to have a very good turn of speed, with many instances of very high-speed running being recorded, especially when hauling heavy express passenger trains. One example, No.91100, fitted with British Caprotti Valve Gear, achieved the class speed record when, on June 10 1959, she reached a maximum recorded speed of 108.5 miles an hour while hauling a heavy express passenger train of 20 coaches, weighing somewhere around 730 tons, along the East Coast Main Line from York down south to London King's Cross. She's now preserved as part of the National Collection at the National Railway Museum in York and is kept in working order, particularly for running on the different routes on the main line where she hauls heavy excursion trains around the U.K.
Due to the extreme popularity of the class with their crews, as well as their excellent reliability in service and availability, and their ability to haul very heavy trains without any problems, withdrawals of the class didn't begin until late in 1965, starting off with No.91050, and by July 1968 only 20 locomotives were still running on the B.R. network in the North-Eastern Region. However, all 20 locomotives were withdrawn from service by the end of August 1968, with the final two examples to be withdrawn being No.91220 and No.91025, both of which were based at Carlisle Kingmoor Depot.
Thankfully, a very respectable 28 examples of the class have been preserved – including the doyen of the class No.91000 R.A. Riddles and the last example, No.91225, both of which are preserved as part of the National Collection, along with No.91100, the fastest example. All the surviving examples have run under their own steam since being preserved, including long spells of working on the main line, as well as on various heritage railways throughout the length and breadth of the U.K. Of the 28 engines, 8 were bought directly from B.R., with the other 20 locomotives being rescued from Woodham's Yard at Barry.
It was the very first time that Carrie had worked on one of the examples of the many 2-8-2's that worked on the Island of Sodor and was hoping that, regardless of what job they were given today, they would do their assigned tasks to the best of their ability.
She could see that what made Michael different from some of the other engines she'd worked on so far was the choice of valve gear; Michael, who liked to be called either by his full name or Mike, was fitted with British Caprotti rotary cam poppet valve gear on all three cylinders instead of Walschaerts valve gear on other engines. He also had a double chimney and Kylchap exhaust system within the smokebox fitted instead of a conventional single chimney. (N)
(N): I originally had No.91000 R.A. Riddles for this part of the story, but then I realised, having mentioned that engine as being part of the National Railway Museum, it wouldn't be a good idea to have that engine be a part of Sodor's fleet, so I changed the number around to No.91075, and gave him the name of Michael, in honour of the late Michael Angelis, who was the longest narrator for the Thomas T.V. series in the U.K.
In the meantime, her father, Ralph, would be working on the footplate of Edward today and would be moving various trains, either passengers or freight, along the Brendam Line from Wellsworth Station down to Brendam Docks and back again.
As the crew and recruits went about their assigned engines for the day and got about getting them ready for the day of work ahead, including oiling up the motion and other moving parts, wiping down the paintwork on each engine to make them look really smart as well as filling up the sand boxes and doing any other little jobs that needed to be done, a very familiar blue car drove into the depot. After the car stopped close by, the door on the driver's side opened up, and out stepped the Fat Controller. Everyone fell silent and watched as the boss walked towards him with his two assistants following behind him.
"Morning everyone." he called out, as he surveyed the shed.
"Good morning, sir!" the crews, recruits and engines said together, as the boss approached.
"Well, today's the day where this year's Valentine's Specials will be assigned to the chosen engines." the Fat Controller said, as he looked round the shed.
All the engines looked towards their boss and wondered which one of them would be chosen for which special.
"Now Michael…" the Fat Controller said, as he looked towards the B.R. Standard 2-8-2 9MT only a few metres away from him.
"Yes, sir?" Michael said, as he looked anxiously towards the boss.
"This year…you are to pull the Valentine's Day Special along the North Coast Line from Vicarstown to Knapford." said the Fat Controller with a smile.
"Thank you, sir!" Michael said, excitedly. He was very pleased to have been chosen to pull the most prestigious Valentine's Day Special this year. He had pulled the Special along the Southern Main line from Knapford to Vicarstown a few times before, but never on the North Coast Line, which was something he always had wanted to do. Simon and Carrie were also pleased to be working on the most prestigious Valentine's Day Special, and they were determined to do their best once they started that job.
"But first of all, you have to bring a long, heavy and fully fitted goods train out from Knapford Harbour and over to the freight yards at Vicarstown, and then you can pick up the Valentine's Special later in the day once you deliver the freight." the Fat Controller said.
"I understand, sir." said Michael, as the Fat Controller then turned his attention to Simon and Carrie.
"Are you both okay with working on a Valentine's Day Special today?" he asked.
"Yes sir, I've no problem working on one today, sir." Simon said.
"I'd love to work on a Valentine's Special, sir." Carrie said. The Fat Controller looked towards them, smiled, and then gave a firm nod of his head.
Then, the Fat Controller went to the other engines and assigned them their jobs; Gordon would be taking the express over to Vicarstown and would then pull the Valentine's Day Special on the Southern Main Line from Vicarstown to Knapford. Murdoch would take the Valentine's Special from Knapford to Vicarstown on the Southern Main Line later on that afternoon once his fire was lit and enough steam had built up in his large boiler.
L.N.E.R. Gresley Class V2 2-6-2 No.60977 was assigned to take a train from Knapford Yards to Brendam Docks and the bring another train from the docks back to Knapford, whereupon he would be assigned to take the Valentine's Special from Knapford to Vicarstown along the Northern Main Line. (19)
Once all the engines and their crews had been given their jobs and other instructions that needed to be done for that day, the Fat Controller wished them all the best of luck for the day and then left the sheds.
Michael beamed with quiet excitement; he was finally gonna get the chance to do something he'd wanted to do for a very long time. His crew and both Carrie and Simon could clearly see that excitement on his face, and they smirked at each other a little.
"Come on, Michael…" said his driver, as he climbed up onto his footplate with the fireman, Simon and Carrie following closely behind, "…let's get to the water tower and fill up your tender tank, and then we'll head to Knapford Harbour and collect your train."
"Okay, driver." Michael said, as the fireman began the task of checking the fire and then the level of water in the boiler. Carrie and Simon took the chance before they left to double-check around the motion to make sure it was all oiled up and the brake-blocks were okay.
It was soon time for them to depart the shed, and both Carrie and Simon quickly clambered aboard onto the footplate as the driver blew on the whistle. With a wheesh of steam, Michael rolled forward slowly and out of the yard onto the main line before making his way over towards Knapford Harbour. It was 08:55am, according to Carrie's watch.
(19): The L.N.E.R. Class V2 2-6-2, designed for expressed mixed traffic work, was the only major class of 2-6-2 tender engine to be used in the U.K. in some numbers as well as being the last major Gresley design to be built in quantity for the L.N.E.R. They were also the very first three-cylinder 2-6-2 class to be built in Britain, and were designed for mixed traffic use, though they were able to hold their own against the larger Pacifics on top-link duties if required to.
Built at the L.N.E.R. works at Doncaster and Darlington, 184 examples were built in 14 batches between 1936 and 1944. A further four examples were planned for the final batch, but Edward Thompson had these four engines rebuilt to his own A2/1 Pacific design.
The class was built to run a new fast Anglo-Scottish express service, which could handle anything from parcels to bulk loads. The service was called "Green Arrow" and was set up to compete with the increasing threat of road traffic, which was becoming a major problem for the railways.
The Gresley V2 proved to be one of the most versatile locomotive designs ever built for use on the L.N.E.R., easily capable of hauling heavy passenger and fitted freight trains alike. They were posted to various sheds along the length of the East Coast Main Line, from King's Cross all the way up to Aberdeen. On occasion, they substituted for Gresley's A1 and A3 Pacifics, as well as for the streamlined Gresley A4 Pacifics as well. However due to their weight and high axle-loading, which was an axle-load of about 22 tons, they were banned from working on certain parts of the L.N.E.R. system, for example the former Great Eastern Railway main lines in East Anglia. There's no doubt that had the V2 Class been allowed to work all over the entire L.N.E.R. network, then they would have been able to make a major difference in the movement of heavy trains over other classes assigned to working in those areas.
They were called by L.N.E.R. enginemen "Pocket Pacifics", as they resembled the larger A3 Class, but had slightly smaller driver wheels of 6ft 2in as opposed to the A3 driving wheels of 6ft 8in, which allowed the V2's to have a higher tractive effort and thus much better pulling power than the larger A3 express passenger locomotives. With their 6ft 2in driving wheels, a boiler fitted with superheating and pressed to 220lbf, and three cylinders that were 18.5in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke, the class had a tractive effort of 33,730lbf. The three cylinders were part of a single monobloc casting - that's where all three cylinders are cast together in one large casting; the advantage of this was that it saved weight and reduced the number of potentially leaky flange joints used.
The V2's were free-steaming locomotives and were easily able to match Gresley's famous Pacifics, and were also able to haul some impressive loads along the British East Coast Main Line, particularly during the tumultuous years of the Second World War when trains of up to 20 coaches long, with weights in excess of 700 tons, were pulled. On one occasion during the war, one V2 pulled a train of 26 coaches from Peterborough down to London. Due to these impressive feats of heavy haulage, they were know as "The engines that won the war." So, because of these impressive feats of haulage, it's no wonder that construction of the class was allowed to continue during the war years.
However, in the years immediately after the war, the Thompson B1 Class 4-6-0, of which 410 examples were built, eventually succeeded the V2 to become the L.N.E.R.'s standard mixed-traffic locomotive, although the Thompson B1s never matched the power output of the V2 Class.
The V2 Class was also noted for feats of high-speed running on occasion; one example of the class was reliably timed at 93mph while hauling the Yorkshire Pullman express, while another example managed to reach a maximum recorded speed of 101.5mph while pulling a test train. They could often haul vacuum braked freight trains, and quite long and heavy ones at that, at speeds of up to 60mph.
Though the class proved to be highly successful, they did suffer from a number of problems, particularly with their leading pony trucks, which used Gresley's very own patented double swing link suspension system. During the war years, when the maintenance of both the track and the locomotives suffered, there were at least five known instances of derailments of the V2's due to their front pony trucks being quite sensitive to the poorly maintained track. As a result of that, the L.N.E.R. replaced all the pony trucks on the V2's that used Gresley's double swing link suspension system with a new pony truck design that used spring side control, which the L.N.E.R. had borrowed from the Stanier 8F 2-8-0's, of which Doncaster built 50 for the war effort. The new design completely solved the problem, and all the V2's were eventually fitted with spring side control pony trucks.
Only eight examples of the V2 Class were ever given names at all, seven of which were named by the L.N.E.R., and one by B.R. These locomotives were;
L.N.E.R. No.4771 (B.R. No.60800) Green Arrow
L.N.E.R. No.4780 (B.R. No.60809) The Snapper, The East Yorkshire Regiment, The Duke of York's Own
L.N.E.R. No.4806 (B.R. No.60835) The Green Howard, Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment
L.N.E.R. No.4818 (B.R. No.60847) St Peter's School York AD627
L.N.E.R. No.4831 (B.R. No.60860) Durham School
L.N.E.R. No.4843 (B.R. No.60872) King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
L.N.E.R. No.4844 (B.R. No.60873) Coldstreamer
L.N.E.R. No.3676 (B.R. No.60964) The Durham Light Infantry - this is the only V2 to be named under B.R., which took place in April 1958.
If the war hadn't intervened when it did, then there's no doubt many more members of the V2 Class would have been given names.
However, like many of Gresley's locomotive designs, the V2's could be susceptible to inadequate maintenance. Though they could be flogged by their crews, the V2's performances would suffer as a result, as wear and tear took its toll on the locomotives, and particularly with Gresley's complex conjugated valve gear, which only worked its best when it was well-maintained.
Upon the nationalisation of Britain's railways in January 1948, the class were renumbered from No.60800 to No.60983, and worked very hard under British Railways auspices, particularly on the length of the East Coast Main Line, along the Waverly Route that ran between Carlisle and Edinburgh, on the route that ran from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, and on the ex-Great Central Main Line that ran between London Marylebone and Sheffield, at which they excelled. The class was said to be ever better along the length of the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Route - also known as the Aberdeen Road - than Gresley's purpose-built giant P2 Class 2-8-2 Mikado's of 1934 had been.
In the 1960's, some examples were fitted with double chimneys, but the experiment didn't prove too successful until Kylchap exhaust systems were fitted. The V2's fitted with Kylchap systems were reckoned to be nearly equal in performance to the larger Pacifics, but due to the imminent replacement of steam with diesel, only eight examples of the V2's were ever fitted with this system.
Another change made to some members of the class in the 1950's was changing their cylinders. The entire V2 Class were originally built with their three cylinders, along with their steam chests and various steam passages, cast together in one large casting known as a monobloc, but in the mid-50's cracks in the monoblocs became quite frequent. It meant that if just one cylinder was cracked, then the whole monobloc had to be replaced, and replacing them was a very time-consuming and expensive process. So in 1956, the decision was made to replace the monoblocs with separate cylinder castings, which would making replacing cracked cylinders a much easier process. In the process of doing this, 71 members of the class were modified, and these engines could be easily identified from other members of the class by the presence of external steam pipes going from smokebox to the two outside cylinders. There's no doubt that the whole class would have been modified in this way, had it not been for the imminent replacement of steam by diesel and electric traction.
The class was withdrawn from regular B.R. service between February 1962 and December 1966, after working alongside surviving examples of the Peppercorn A2 and Gresley A4 Pacifics on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line in Scotland. The very last member of the class to be withdrawn from service was No.60836, which was withdrawn on December 31st 1966 at its home base of Dundee Tay Bridge.
Thankfully, one example of the class has survived into preservation as part of the National Railway Museum's collection, L.N.E.R. No.4771 (B.R. No.60800) Green Arrow, the doyen of the class. Although she has run extensively for many years in preservation, both on heritage railways as well as seeing extensive use out on the main line, since 2008 Green Arrow has been out of service with boiler and cylinder issues, and is currently on static display within a museum in her birthplace of Doncaster, England.
Soon, rolling over the points, Michael arrived at Knapford Harbour and went straight towards one of the water towers so his tender tank could be filled up. His tender was very different to most other tenders coupled to B.R. Standard steam locomotives; the tenders that were coupled to the B.R. Standard 9MT Mikado's, as well as some other larger B.R. Standard engines, were much longer in length and they ran on four axles as opposed to most other B.R. Standard tenders which ran on three axles. The advantage this gave was that it allowed the 9MT Mikado's to have a much greater water capacity, somewhere close to about 8,000 gallons of water, and with 7 tons of coal in the coal space would thus be able to run for much longer periods of time without having to stop for water.
Pulling in under the water tower, Simon climbed up to the back of the tender and opened the lid at the back, and Carrie, after taking hold of the chain, pulled as hard as she could and swung the arm over to him. After placing the length of pipe into the tank, Simon called out "Water on!" and Carrie, after calling back "Water on!" twisted round the valve handle and allowed water to pour into the tank.
Considering the tender tank's considerable water capacity, it took a little time for the tank to be completely filled up, but eventually Simon saw the water rise up to within a few inches of overflowing and called out "Okay, water off!" and Carrie quickly turned the valve back and shut off the water. After the arm was swung back from the tender, Simon closed the lid and then carefully climbed back down to track level, where the fireman was waiting for him.
"We're all filled up here, fireman!" Simon said.
"Good man! Well done!" the fireman said.
"Now the tank's filled up, let's go and get the train." the driver said, as they climbed back aboard the footplate.
As they set off to the quayside to collect their train, Carrie took the opportunity to have a look into the sky; the thin clouds that had been there earlier on in the morning were clearing slowly away, which allowed bright sunlight to shine through the gaps. Carrie could sense that the weather would be much better later, and thus perfect for the many couples who would be travelling on their train when they left Vicarstown that afternoon.
They soon arrived at the quayside where the train they were to pull was waiting for them to arrive, and they slowly reversed up to it and gently buffered up to the van at the front. As the shunter coupled up the train and then connected the brake pipes together, Carrie took the opportunity to look out to sea through a gap between two ships docked at the quay; she could see some distance out and at one point she could clearly see the sight of a large ship in the distance on the horizon line. A cool, gentle breeze blew off the calm water and the fresh salty air couldn't help but brighten up Carrie's spirits. It was even better when she considered the fact that there was no smell of fish or rotting seaweed floating in the air this morning.
Then, Carrie turned her attention to have a look at the train behind them; there were about forty-five wagons in the train - maybe even a few more than that, and consisted of a mixture of different box-vans, some covered hopper wagons (Cov-Hops), a few flatbeds – some of which had their cargoes covered with tarpaulins that had been securely fastened down, a few tankers, and open topped trucks. Towards the rear of the train, she could see Harvey, the maroon-red 0-4-0 tank engine with 27 painted on his side tanks and a big crane fitted over his boiler, helping the dockside workers load up one of the flat beds with long sections of timber that had come in on the ships.
As they simmered quietly and waited to set off, Carrie heard a whistle; she turned and saw James come round the bend and towards them.
"Morning there, James." Carrie said, as the bright red engine came to a stop.
"Morning, Carrie…a nice morning out and one that I think will bring out the best of my smart red paint." James said, as he buffered up to the train standing behind him.
"Do you always think about how smart your paint looks?" Carrie asked casually, knowing that James' personality at times could almost be a little like the personalities of people she'd known back home, particularly her bullies at Ewen High School like Chris Hargensen, Tina Blake, or Heather Shyres.
"Oh, quite often, Carrie. After all, I wouldn't want anything to ruin or spoil my smart red coat." James said, with a proud smile.
"I see…" Carrie said, as she rolled her eyes a little.
"Hey James, why don't you concentrate on working and delivering your train to where it's needed instead of bragging about your red paint?" Michael said, as he glared rather sternly at James.
"Yes, and I think it would be easier on all of us too." Harvey said, as he puffed alongside, having just finished loading the last items of cargo onto Michael's train. James glared rather crossly at Harvey and Michael before he spoke again.
"Hey, you two, I'm just trying to impress Carrie with how smart my red paintwork looks." James said, as he glared at Harvey and Michael.
"Save it, James. After all, we've all got a lot of work to do today, and maybe you'd like to save it for a more appropriate time." said Michael, as he glared at James.
"All right, fine." James said, with a heavy sigh as he rolled his eyes.
A few more minutes later, once the dock management had determined that the train coupled behind Michael was all prepared and ready to go, and that there was vacuum within the brake pipes between all the wagons, they were allowed to leave.
"Okay, we're all ready to depart." Michael said, as he smiled and saw the points change and the signal drop ahead of them. Carrie turned and looked back from the driver's side of the cab towards the rear of the train; the guard stepped out from his van at the back of the train, waved his green flag and blew his whistle loudly before he quickly stepped back into his brake van.
"Okay, right away, driver!" Carrie said, as she pulled her head back into the cab.
"Okay then, Carrie!" the driver said, as he blew the whistle for a few seconds and then gently pulled open the regulator before him. With white steam shooting out from the front, Michael slowly moved forward pulling the wagons along behind him, and slowly went along over the points and onto the line that led out from the harbour.
"And the train's following along behind us just fine, driver!" Simon said, as he looked back along the length of the train from the fireman's side of the cab.
"Excellent!" the driver said, as he reached forward and blew the whistle again.
They soon approached Knapford Station, which appeared in the distance not too far ahead of them and, with another blast on the whistle, Michael rolled up to the station and rolled by Platform One, upon which stood none other than the Fat Controller, who stood and smiled as he watched the train roll by the station right on time.
Going under the signal gantry beyond the station, where the signal for their line was down and shining its green light and passing by the junction to the Farquhar Branch and the bus depot, they passed under the road bridge and onto the main line, where the driver could open the regulator, pull the reversing gear back towards mid-gear and allow the train to move at a higher speed to its destination.
"Now this is it! This is how to move with a train like this!" Carrie said excitedly, as she stuck her head out of the driver's side and allowed the wind to blow into her face and through her blonde hair.
In the cab, Simon had the shovel in his hands and was stoking the boiler while the fireman looked on and made sure Simon was doing everything correctly in placing the coal to where it was needed in the firebox.
They approached Henry's Tunnel in the distance and as they closed in, Simon quickly stopped stoking and closed up the fire-hole doors, as the driver put the blower valve full on to increase the draft on the fire. Then, with the whistle blowing loudly, Michael steamed quickly into the tunnel and at once the cab was enveloped in darkness for a few moments before they burst out of the other side, with a large cloud of smoke and steam billowing out from behind them as the train emerged.
Passing through the countryside, they encountered a slight uphill gradient, where Michael felt the very heavy weight of the train pulling along behind as they went along, but his eight driving wheels and three cylinders easily managed the challenge of going up a gradient like this. Very quickly, the ground levelled out as they went by the signal box, with the home signal not too far before it showing a green light, indicating the way ahead was clear for them to process.
Soon, they reached a steel girder bridge that crossed over two railway lines that passed by below them, and looking out, Carrie couldn't see any other trains passing by on the two lines below them.
Continuing on, they passed through open, rolling farmland for the next few miles, where only people out walking could be seen in some fields, or animals grazing away in others, could be seen before the branch line going to Farquhar eventually came into sight to their left and converged to run alongside the two main lines.
After a short while, they passed through Elsbridge Station, where Toby could be seen standing at the platform of the Farquhar Branch with his coach, Henrietta, coupled behind him. Toby ran his bell in greeting, as Michael blew his whistle in return.
In the good and storage yards and sidings off to the right, the Scottish Twins Donald and Douglas could be seen getting their trains ready to go; Donald was getting ready to take a goods train, while Douglas was being coupled to about half a dozen or so express coaches, which were in maroon and cream livery. The driver of Michael blew the whistle as they went by, and the Scottish Twins replied with their deep-toned Caledonian whistles.
Passing by the yards, they went by the signal box and over the level crossing and back out into the open countryside again.
"Hey Carrie…would you like to have a go?" Simon said, as he offered Carrie the shovel.
"Sure would!" Carrie said, as she took hold of the shovel and set to work at stoking the firebox, while the fireman looked on and made sure she was doing everything properly. Simon leaned out of the fireman's side and watched ahead as they went along. As they went round a curve, Emily, the dark green G.N.R. 4-2-2 Stirling Single, went by with a passenger train behind her. Sounding her whistle, Emily continued on to Elsbridge as Michael, after also sounding his own whistle in greeting, rolled on ahead.
Passing by a long road that went parallel to the main line for a mile or two and then going by a cluster of different houses and a road-side pub at a point where the road turned away from the railway line, they continued on ahead before crossing a stone bridge that spanned a wide river. Looking below, Simon could see that the fast-flowing water was running a dark brown, almost the colour of tea, due to the fact that the last of the snow on higher ground had nearly melted away and thus caused the river to run the way it was.
After going along a few more miles, they reached a point where the twin track main line became a triple track main line and going in the opposite direction was W.D. Austerity 2-8-0 No.90361 with a long and very heavy mixed freight train.
Carrie and Simon watched as the train being pulled by No.90361 went by and they saw the huge variety of wagon types that made up the consist of the train; there were open hopper wagons carrying stone or coal, flatbed wagons carrying crates, machinery, large drums of cable or pipes, enclosed box vans of different types, some tankers – including ones carrying milk, some open topped wagons carrying China-clay, and some steel bodied mineral wagons carrying iron ore amongst others. By the time the guard's van went by, they were passing through Cronk Station and heading towards Wellsworth.
On the final approach before Wellsworth, the driver shut off steam and applied the brakes as he knew he would need some bankers to help him up Gordon's Hill with a train as long as this one. Going by the sidings before Wellsworth Station where the bankers were stationed, Michael rolled by slowly as Carrie and Simon looked out from the driver's side of the cab. The different variety of engines they saw amazed them, but then they saw another of the big articulated Garratt locomotives sitting in one of the sidings. Initially, Carrie thought it was No.47988, the LMS 2-6-0+0-6-2 Garratt she and Simon first went for a ride on back in early December, but then she noticed this Garratt looked very different and there were eight driving wheels under each power unit instead of six as on No.47988.
"That Garratt you see right there, Carrie…" Simon said, as he pointed to the enormous Garratt, "…that's No.2395, the only Gresley U1 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt ever built for use in the U.K. and also the only Garratt that was built by the L.N.E.R. He's also one of the most powerful British steam locomotives ever built too, with a tractive effort of just under 73,000 pounds." (20)
"Wow…that's quite strong for a steam engine." Carrie said, as she turned to look at Simon.
"And he's doing something that he did reasonably well back in the old days; banking heavy trains up a steep hill." Simon said.
"So, he shouldn't have any trouble helping us Gordon's Hill then?" Carrie asked.
"No, he shouldn't." Simon said, with a smile.
(20): The sole Garratt built for the L.N.E.R. (L.N.E.R. No.2395 / B.R. No.69999) was built with the sole intention of banking heavy coal and freight trains up the steeply graded Worsborough Bank along part of the Woodhead Route. Designed by Nigel Gresley and built at Doncaster Works in 1925, it was based off the G.C.R. Class 8K 2-8-0 but with each power unit having three cylinders as opposed to two.
It was the first ever Garratt articulated locomotive built to run on the British main line and was also the longest and most powerful of any British steam locomotive, with an impressive tractive effort of 72,940 pounds. This was delivered by six cylinders, with three on each power unit, that were 18.5in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke, and a boiler that was pressed to 180psi.
After being built, the new Garratt, still painted in workshop grey, appeared at the 100th anniversary cavalcade of the Stockton and Darlington Railway centenary celebrations in July 1925. After the celebrations, the locomotive was painted into L.N.E.R. black livery and entered service in August 1925.
On the Worsborough Bank, very long and heavy coal trains, typically numbering around 60 wagons or so and would sometimes weigh over 1,000 tons, would be banked up the gradient. The trains would usually be hauled by an L.N.E.R. Class O4 2-8-0, with another O4 or an ex-G.C.R. Class 1B banking at the rear with the U1 usually buffering up behind the first banker. The heavy trains would then be banked along a 3.5 mile stretch at 1 in 40 to West Silkstone Junction at the top of the climb, where the U1 would then be detached, and the assisting engine would continue on with the train as far as Dunford Bridge.
However, to get to West Silkstone Junction, the trains always had to go through the two tunnels at Silkstone just before the top of the bank. Those tunnels were notorious for their poor air quality, particularly after heavy trains had just gone through them, in particular the assisting engines before the larger U1, and as a result the crews of the U1 Garratt would suffer accordingly from the fumes, heat and smoke, which were often described as being "close to hell". Special breathing apparatus was tried on board the U1, but the crews objected to sharing this equipment for hygienic reasons and so it was withdrawn, with the crews often resorting to covering their noses and mouths with wet handkerchiefs instead, which was a more traditional and time-honoured method.
Although the engine rode very well and was very comfortable to ride on due to its large commodious cab, due to the soft water that was found in the region where it worked, a protective layer of scale couldn't form within the boiler, and so boiler corrosion issues were a particular problem on the U1, with the boiler having to be re-tubed in 1926. As a result of the boiler corrosion issues, and the damage to the firebox in 1927 and 1928, it spent most of the year 1930 out of service as a consequence, during which time a brand new firebox was fitted and some modifications were undertaken, including having a new chemical treatment system fitted to solve the scaling issues.
Although the locomotive proved adequate for the work it had to do, it wasn't successful enough to warrant further development; for example, plans to fit a revolving coal bunker to the locomotive in 1930 weren't pursued. Also, the engine proved susceptible to steaming problems and poor quality coal. The added effort that was needed to operate an engine as large as the U1 wasn't really appreciated very much by the crews who had to work on it, who summed up their opinions of working on the U1 as, "Twice the work, but the same sodding pay."
With the electrification of the Woodhead Route and the Worsborough Bank, and the boiler nearing the end of its useful life, the continued operation of the U1 became doubtful in the late 1940's. But from 1949 to 1950, and again in 1955, No.69999 was tried out on the Lickey Incline within the London Midland Region, thus becoming the only locomotive of an L.N.E.R. design to bank trains on that stretch of track, where it supplemented the famous Midland 0-10-0 Lickey banker, No.58100, also known as "Big Bertha" which had worked as a banker on the Lickey ever since it was built in 1919. When banking on the Lickey, No.69999 initially banked chimney first, but after difficulties experienced when buffering up to passenger trains, it was turned round to run cab-first up the bank and an electric headlight was fitted. But despite this, the crew had great problems with visibility from the cab, particularly after dark.
On one occasion when banking up the Lickey, she was pushing a heavy freight being hauled by L.M.S. 2-6-0+0-6-2 Garratt No.47972 and No.69999's steam reverser creeped and, as a result, the train ended up getting stuck. So No.58100 had to come to the rescue from Bromsgrove, resulting in a rather unusual sight of a train being driven up the Lickey Incline with 19 driving axles.
In 1952, No.69999 was taken to Gorton Works and was kept in storage there for three years while a number of attempts were made to convert it to oil-firing, and an improved electric headlamp was also fitted. A brand new paint scheme was applied to the engine, and her numbers were painted along the cab-sides, and not on the buffer-beams.
On December 23rd, 1955, No.69999 was finally withdrawn from service and subsequently taken to Doncaster Works where it was cut up for scrap early in 1956, having travelled a very reasonable 425,000 miles during her 30-year career.
With the driver having shut off the steam and now gently putting on the brakes, Michael came to a slow stop with the guard's van some distance ahead of the banker sidings, so as to give sufficient clearance. The driver had already given the signal that he wanted a banker, and then he gave three short blasts on the whistle, indicating he wanted to have three bankers help him and his train up the hill.
Poking her head out from the driver's side of the cab, Carrie looked back along the long straight stretch of line, and her eyes opened wide. With a dense cloud of steam, the U1, No.2395, rolled slowly out from the siding and over the points to the line where the train was. Carefully rolling up to the guard's van, with a man standing by the side of the line to give the driver some assistance, No.2395 gently buffered up the rear of the train, and blew his whistle loudly, to indicate he was in position.
Carrie was a little surprised to see the U1 buffer up to the back of the train – especially considering the driver whistled for three bankers, but Simon reassured her that as No.2395 was an extremely strong engine, it easily had more tractive effort than four of the smaller tank engines that helped to bank up the hill and would be able to do the job of pushing the train up the hill easily, which helped to reassure Carrie.
After the exchange of whistles, the driver of Michael gave a long and loud whistle as the signal for banker and train engine to open their regulators and, with a slight jerk, the train started to move forward towards Wellsworth Station and Gordon's Hill beyond.
"We can do it…we can do it…" Michael puffed with determination as the train rolled up to and then through Wellsworth Station. From the back of the train, No.2395 puffed ahead and pushed as hard as he could with equal determination going through his smoke box, saying "I can do it…I can do it…."
Looking out from the driver's side of the cab of Michael, Carrie looked at the extensive sidings, complete with sheds, watering facilities and turntable in the large open yard behind one part of Wellsworth. Passing under the road bridge, they rolled down the line and soon came upon the junction that led down to Brendam Docks, where she and Simon had gone through the night before on the footplate of Henry. Then a short while later, after passing over the level crossing and by the junction, they passed by a second junction that went off somewhere towards the north or northeast, and a minute or so later, they approached the cutting, the sides of which rose up on both sides of the line, and the road bridge sitting at the foot of Gordon's Hill.
With No.2395 pushing very hard from the back, the exhaust roaring away sharply from his double chimney and with a loud blast of his whistle, Michael surged ahead under the bridge and round the bend and then up the hill. Rounding the curve, he could see that the three lines ahead on the hill were empty and the driver pulled open on the regulator and they surged up the hill. Simon was taking his turn at the shovel and was stoking the boiler, as Carrie sat on the fireman's seat and leaned out to look forward.
She watched as the top of the hill came closer and closer, and then from over the top of the hill she saw a column of white smoke puffing from over the crest of the hill, and then LMS Class 8F 2-8-0 No.48476 slowly came from over the top of the hill on the down line with a long train of wagons following along behind him. Then he very slowly descended the hill, especially as the train was a loose coupled train, with the long line of freight wagons rattling along behind him as he did so. (21)
Carrie noticed, as they went by, that the wagons were filled with a variety of things including coal, ballast, stone, planks of timber, scrap metal as well as some sort of ore. Then suddenly, Michael reached the crest of the hill and passed the signal box set a little back from the line and past the points. The driver blew the whistle to indicate he had reached the crest of the hill and then opened the regulator a little, allowing the front of the train to pick up speed.
From the back, No.2395 also sounded his whistle to indicate he was about to drop off from the rear of the train as the rear of the train came closer and closer to the top of the hill. Slowly, the train picked up speed and pulled away from the front buffers of No.2395 as he reached the top of the hill. After slowing down and then stopping near to the signal box, the signalman changed the points so as to allow No.2395 to slowly reverse over the points to the down line, where he could reverse back down the hill and, following 8F No.48476, headed back down to Wellsworth where he would be refuelled and his two water tanks, one at the front and the other behind the cab, refilled with water, and would wait his turn to bank another train going up Gordon's Hill.
(21): The L.M.S. Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 heavy freight locomotive was one of the most successful freight engines ever built for use on the British Railway network, as well as one of the more numerous, with 852 examples being built between 1935 and 1946, of which 666 worked for B.R. post-nationalisation. The class were originally classified as 7F, but this was changed to the more familiar 8F.
Fitted with two outside cylinders that were 18.5in in diameter with a 28in piston stroke, with a boiler pressed to 225psi and driving wheels that were 4ft 8.5in in diameter, the class had a tractive effort of 32,440lbf. They were designed to haul the increasingly heavy freight trains running on the L.M.S., which was suffering from the Midland Railway's "small engine" policy, and many trains were being hauled by small and underpowered 0-6-0 locomotives, and even on older 0-8-0's, which often had to run train doubled-headed. This was an increasingly uneconomical prospect, and newer, more powerful locomotives were desperately needed to replaced many older pre-grouping designs.
The 8F's were an instant success, and replaced many older pre-grouping designs on heavy freight work. They rode very well at high speed and could handle vacuum-fitted freights at speeds of up to 50mph. When called upon, they could also haul passenger trains, and could often reach speeds in excess of 60mph if it was ever needed. They were also mechanically reliable, and the kind of freight engine which was trouble-free and easy to maintain that the L.M.S. so desperately needed.
The 8F was very similar in appearance to Churchward's G.W.R. 28XX 2-8-0 built 30 years before, but was a more advanced design. With a maximum axle-loading of only 16 tons and the ability to negotiate curves of 297 foot radius, and having 63 of its 72 tons available for adhesion, the 8F's had a very wide route availability.
Before the war, the class was built at the L.M.S works of Crewe and Horwich, but during the war years, the growing need for increased freight traffic meant that more 8F's had to be built in the works of other railway companies, including the Southern Railway works of Ashford, Brighton, and Eastleigh, the L.N.E.R. works at Darlington and Doncaster, and the G.W.R. works at Swindon, as well as other contractors such as Beyer Peacock, the Vulcan Foundry, and the North British Locomotive works. It was a very unique situation where an engine of a purely L.M.S. design was being built in workshops owned by other members of the Big Four. Those examples of the class that were built by the L.N.E.R. were classified as O6.
During the war years, some members of the class left the U.K. and saw extensive service on oversea railways, including on lines in Egypt, where they helped move supplies and hardware for the British and Commonwealth Forces fighting in North Africa, within Iran and Iraq, in Palestine and Israel, Italy and in Turkey. Sadly, a number of the class were lost on transit when their ships ended up getting sunk, including 4 that had to be jettisoned over the side of the ship that was transporting them when the ship ran into a storm.
In the years after the war ended, some 8F's were converted to burn oil due to a coal shortage crisis in the years after the Second World War came to an end. The engines were converted back to coal-burning in 1948 - 49.
In British Railways days, the class proved very durable and performed very successfully on all manner of traffic assigned to it, ranging from slow unfitted mineral traffic to faster fitted freights, as well as on the occasional passenger services. They could be found all over the B.R. network, from Plymouth in the south all the way up to the far north of Scotland. Though a small handful were withdrawn before 1964 - with three of them subsequently reinstated - routine withdrawals of the class didn't begin until 1964. In 1967, the greatest numbers of 8F's were withdrawn, when 231 examples were removed from service.
150 examples of the 8F Class survived in service until the last year of British steam in 1968, but all were withdrawn by the end of August that year. In fact, the very last steam locomotive in British Railways service to be withdrawn and have its fire dropped in August 1968 was a former L.M.S. 8F 2-8-0.
Thankfully, 14 examples of the class have survived into preservation, of which six examples survive in the U.K., one example dumped somewhere in Iraq, and a few surviving in Turkey, with a few examples from Turkey having been imported back to the U.K. in recent years. Those examples that worked on Turkish railways worked right up until the 1980's. Some of the examples of the class that have survived in the U.K. have run on heritage railways, with one or two that have run on the main line, including No.48151.
With the train now clear of Gordon's Hill and running smoothly, Michael continued on down the line and round the bend towards Maron Station, which soon came into view in the distance ahead of them. After passing through the station, and by its sidings and small goods yard, as well as passing the junction that led to the triple track high speed line that ran for much of the south-eastern area of Sodor, they carried on down the line where they passed over another stone viaduct spanning a deep valley with a river flowing beneath it. Carrie and Simon looked out from the cab as they went over the viaduct; it was certainly a long way down from where they stood high above.
Then after a short while, another signal appeared ahead of them; it was a distant signal and the light was showing yellow, which meant "Proceed with caution" and so the driver shut the regulator and put on the brakes. As they slowed down, the driver kept a sharp eye out for the home signal that was to appear ahead of them. The home signal, and the signal box situated beside it soon came into view ahead and, to the surprise of Michael and those who were on his footplate, the signal light was red, which meant they had to stop.
As the driver put on the brakes, Carrie leaned out from the driver's side and saw that in addition to the red signal light, the signalman was standing on the steps leading up to the signal box and holding a bright red flag in his hand. Carrie wondered what could be wrong.
As Michael stopped by the signal box, the signalman stepped down from the steps leading up to his signal box and walked over to the side of the cab.
"What's going on up ahead, sir?" the driver asked.
"Sorry to stop you all like this, but there's a problem up ahead of you right now in the area between Cronk and Kildane Stations; a freight train has come to a halt there with a problem with its safety valve, and it's being sorted out right now." said the signal man.
"Oh dear, does that mean we'll have to go along the stretch of line going by Sodor International Airport to the junction just north of Kildane-upon-Barn?" the driver asked.
"I'm afraid so, sir…there's no choice, especially if you've got an important freight that needs to be delivered." said the signal man.
"All right, I guess we've got no choice in the matter then." the driver said.
"Just wait here, and I'll set the points to that line. As soon as the light goes green, you can set off." said the signal man, and giving a nod, as well as a heavy sigh, the driver agreed. The signal man went back up to his box as the driver released the air brakes, wound the reversing gear into full forward and got ready to set off as soon as the signal went down, and the light went green.
The signal man changed the points at the junction ahead, and the signal arm dropped, and the light shone bright green, showing that the way ahead was clear. With a blast of the whistle, Michael rolled forwards slowly and up to the junction about a quarter mile ahead, and over the points to the left before they joined onto the line heading down to the airport. This was a part of Sodor that Carrie had never been down to before, so she was feeling a little excited at seeing something new.
As they went along, the triple tracks widened out to a quadruple track and the land opened up to a wide and flat open area where it seemed likely an engine could reach a very high speed, if there weren't any speed restrictions or the station of Sodor International Airport coming up ahead shortly. Soon, with a speed restriction coming up ahead of them, the driver closed the regulator most of the way and kept his hand close to the brake lever.
Soon, after they passed under a very wide red-brick bridge, which carried a wide road over the railway lines, the airport and the large and impressive railway station for it came into view ahead of them, and the four tracks expanded out to nine railway lines, which were in three groups of three lines each. (N)
(N): The railway station for the Sodor International Airport is based off of the now closed and demolished railway station of Nottingham Victoria on the Great Central Main Line, only that the airport railway station in this story is a much larger version of that which was once Nottingham Victoria.
Carrie was astonished by what she saw come up ahead of them, as the driver closed the regulator and gently put on the brakes. The station for Sodor International Airport consisted of four very long platforms, two of which were island platforms that were very wide. And each platform was long enough to take up to 25 coaches if needed. Each island platform also had a bay platform built into each end of it too, with each bay having two tracks sitting side by side within it, along with a scissors-crossover points connecting the two tracks in each bay. The bay platforms at the ends of each island platform were more than long enough to take up to 10 coaches each. With that and including the very long and lone platform that was the closest to the airport terminal, there were 14 platforms in all at this station, which meant there would be plenty of trains to go through the station during the busy peak times during the busy summer season when tourists by the thousands would come to visit Sodor.
Before the station on its north side was a large signal box with multiple control levers within it that controlled all the signals and points on the northern side of the station, with another identical signal box of similar size controlling all operations of the signals and points on the southern side of the station.
Looking up to the area over the station as they came closer, Carrie could see a very long footbridge, which appeared to be made of wrought iron and painted black, connecting all four platforms together, as well as with the main airport terminal building on one side of the station and the main booking hall and station building on the other side. All the way at the other end of the station, another very identical footbridge could be clearly seen. The signalman within the north signal box had already set the points for them to run down the very middle of the nine lines, right between the two middle island platforms along the middle passenger loop.
Over the whole railway station, stretching from one end to the other and from the side of the main airport terminal to the main station building and booking hall, was an enormous three part glazed canopy, which was being held up by very strong steel pillars. This enormous, glazed canopy seemed to rival the one over at Knapford Station in its sheer size and grandeur.
As they passed through the station on the middle passenger loop between platforms 7 and 8 at a steady speed of about 20mph, Carrie looked out from the fireman's side along both the long island platform she could see before her, as well as towards the long platform closest to the airport terminal. She could clearly see people standing on the platforms, mostly station staff, such as cleaners, a few maintenance people, as well as a few porters pushing empty luggage trolleys to where they would be stowed away when not in use or into the main building that connected the railway station to the airport. There were also some passengers standing around and waiting as well; some were standing out on the platforms, but most were sitting within the warmth and comfort of the waiting rooms on the platforms.
There were also elevators fitted alongside the two footbridges, for use by passengers with limited mobility, such as those in wheelchairs, or passengers who may have heavy items of luggage, such as on luggage trolleys, that couldn't be brought down the stairs safely.
On the platforms, she also saw different travel posters placed within the poster stands or behind noticeboards on some walls, including some new ones that were being put up by the station staff. She could also see that each island platform had their own dining and toilet facilities, as well as their own kiosks and little shops where a variety of snacks and refreshments, both hot and cold, as well as good choices of books, magazines, and newspapers would be served out to people who were waiting for their trains. There were also various offices, areas where the station staff would sleep and rest when they weren't on duty, and various rooms, including the waiting rooms, various storage rooms, cloak rooms, rooms for the safe storage of luggage, various offices as well as a lost and found department on each platform two. She could also see many different vending machines lined up together against some of the walls.
There were even various water cranes installed at the ends of some of the platforms too, so engines could top up their tanks with water if needed.
Then, as Michael passed through the other end of the station, Carrie saw the freight sidings that led down to the area very close to the airport terminal where freight trains, bringing cargo to be taken away from Sodor by plane, would go and bring in things to be flown out on the planes, as well as delivering such things as spare parts and fuel for the airport maintenance depot, food, and supplies for passengers on flights to enjoy and other things as well. It was also where deliveries that came in by air would be loaded onto the trains and would then be delivered out to various destinations on the Island of Sodor, or even taken onto the mainland as well.
There was also a depot close by where engines would be maintained and readied for their next duties. The depot included a turntable, sheds, watering, and coaling facilities as well as an area where engines would be cleaned before they went back out to work again.
There was also a coaching depot close by too, where plenty of different coaching stock was stored and kept maintained in readiness for trains leaving the airport, particularly in the high summer season when tens of thousands of tourists and holiday makers would visit Sodor.
As they passed by the coaching depot, Carrie was astonished by how much coaching stock took up the sidings. In one siding, she could see puffing smoke from an engine sorting out coaches in the depot, but due to other coaches blocking the view she couldn't see which engine it was.
As they pulled away down the line, Carrie turned back to have a quick look at the airport, which was on raised ground to the west of the railway lines; she could clearly see the Air Traffic Control tower, which towered over and thus dominated the surrounding buildings and car park, a radar dish painted in red and white, a multi-storey carpark by the main terminal, as well as hangars, fuel depot and maintenance depot. Then the main terminal building itself, which was a very large and modern-looking structure with a roof that was curved and metallic looking, and with the front of the terminal having a modern glass front. At times, she could see the tails and even the main bodies of aircraft parked on the ramps on the other side of the terminal building.
At one point, she could even see a very large, tall and modern looking building sitting very near to the terminal with a few cars parked along one side of it. That building looked to Carrie as though it was a hotel, which, as she was to discover later on, was indeed a hotel.
Carrie was very impressed by the airport, particularly by its scale and how modern the place looked, which was a bit of a surprise to her, especially seeing something like this on the Island of Sodor.
"How impressed are you with the Sodor International Airport, Carrie?" Simon asked.
"Well Simon…I'm very impressed with it. I never expected to see so a building so modern as something like that is right here on Sodor." Carrie said.
"And it's one of the finest transport hubs that connects the Island of Sodor with much of the rest of the world, particularly with Ireland and Continental Europe. Flights go to and from here pretty much all year round, bringing in tourists and things Sodor needs as well as helping to export produce from here." Simon said.
"Do you think any flights are due in today?" Carrie asked.
"There should be. After all, there are constant daily flights going from here over to the airports in Ireland, some airports over in the U.K. and some airports over on Continental Europe, going to places like Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Poland and Switzerland." said Simon.
"Have you gone to any of those countries from here?" Carrie asked.
"I've been to a few of them, but not as many as I really should have. Also, I've heard that there's been talk of flights going from Sodor over to North America sometime in the near future, including to such places as Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto in Canada, and New York JFK, Boston Logan and Bangor International Airport over in the United States, to name but a few of the places in North America." Simon said.
"That sounds interesting." Carrie said.
"Hold the chat for now, you two…" the driver said, as he pulled open the regulator a little more, as Simon and Carrie turned to look at him, "…we're approaching the junction where we're about to go back out onto the main line."
"Okay, driver!" Simon said, as he turned and asked the fireman for the shovel. Taking the shovel, Simon took his turn at stoking the boiler as the fireman went up and checked the two water-gauge glasses fitted to the of the boiler backhead; the water-level in the boiler looked a little low, so he reached down to his right for the water injector controls. With a hiss as he turned the two brass handles, the injectors began to feed more water into the boiler.
Carrie looked out the driver's side, and she saw the six tracks reduce to four and then after a few hundred more yards of travel it narrowed to three tracks. Then the junction came into view ahead of them and, with the points having been set for them and the signal light at green, the driver blew the whistle long and loud, they rolled over the junction and were back on the main line. Going over to the fireman's side, Carrie leaned out, looked back, and watched as the wagons came over the junction and onto the main line behind Michael.
As they got further and further down the main line away from the junction, the wagons at the rear of the train got smaller and smaller until Carrie could just make out the shape of the brake van coming over the junction.
"Okay, we're all clear of the junction back here!" Carrie called, as she pulled her head back in and looked towards the driver.
"Very good, Carrie!" the driver said, as he pulled open the regulator a little more and then wound the reverser back towards mid-gear. As she felt the train starting to speed up, and with the increased sounds of the chuffing from the double chimney up front as Michael sped up, Carrie sat down on the front of the tender and rested her feet.
For much of the rest of the trip, in between taking turns at the shovel and stoking the firebox, Carrie was either looking out of the driver's side of the cab or the on the fireman's side and looking out ahead or off to the sides to see the different scenery as they went along. After passing by Rossington Junction, they moved along the main line due east towards the next station, which was Kellsthorpe Junction, which was the point where main line diverged to two separate main lines going to Vicarstown; one three track spur went by Crovan's Gate while the other three track spur, placed a little further to the southeast, went near to the coast and over the line that ran into Norramby, which was a coastal fishing village and tourist spot along Sodor's south-eastern coast.
Both lines met up again at a junction at a place called Vicky Road, along with the main line that ran along the north coast of the Island, before they ran into the main eastern terminus of Vicarstown, the most easterly main town on the Island of Sodor and the eastern terminal for the railways on the island.
After Michael went through Kellsthorpe Station, he approached the junction; the points were set for him and his train to run on the spur that would take him past Crovan's Gate, which was the main H.Q. for the narrow gauge Skarloey Railway which ran into the very rough hilly ground to the north west.
Carrie then took another turn at the shovel as they headed along the line, and she was able to place the coal into the firebox where it was needed, including along the sides, into the back corners and in the are under the firehole doors. And using as much force as she could muster, she was also able to place the lumps of coal towards the front of the firebox as well and, thanks to her efforts, the needle on the boiler pressure gauge stayed close to the maximum of 250psi, which meant Michael would be able to keep up a good speed, and thus keep to time.
As Carrie handed the shovel back to the fireman so he could have a go, the driver closed the regulator and gently put on the brakes. Noticing this, Carrie went over to the driver's side and looked out ahead, as Simon did the same on the fireman's side. Ahead of them, Carrie could see they were approaching another station; this one consisted of two platforms, one on each side of the three-track line with a green-painted footbridge connecting the two. There was a large station building at each platform, with a glass canopy, held together by green painted steel, stretching over the three lines from one building to the other. From the station building placed along the down line, a high and weathered red brick wall stretched all the way from the station to the road bridge a few hundred yards before the station.
As they slowly down and passed under the stone road bridge before the station, Carrie looked to the left and also noticed two more tracks that ran behind the other station building, which also had a platform at its rear and another platform on the other side of the two-track line. A covered footbridge ran between the two platforms.
Then, Carrie noticed a narrow-gauge railway on the other side of the two tracks, and she could see wisps of smoke rising from the tall chimneys of two narrow-gauge engines who were sitting at the station, though she didn't see which engines they were.
As Michael blew his whistle loudly, he passed through Crovan's Gate Station where various people, including members of station staff and many waiting passengers, stood on the two platforms, and waved as they watched him go by. From the narrow-gauge lines, the two small steam engines whistled in greeting, and Michael blew his whistle "Hello!" in response.
As they passed by, Carrie looked behind them to try and see which narrow-gauge engines were sitting there and waiting to go, but she could only see the rear ends of the coaches they had coupled behind them.
"Any idea who those engines were, Carrie?" Simon asked, as Carrie turned to look at him.
"No idea, Simon. It's just that the fence and other things on the platform were blocking my view." Carrie said, as she went and sat down on the front of the tender, taking the opportunity to rest her feet.
Heading on down the line, the train made good progress towards Vicarstown as it went into the countryside within the eastern part of the island. They soon reached the junction about halfway along the line that branched off to the north towards Great Waterton and towards Chiddlington off to the north along the north main line that ran from Vicarstown to Knapford, and the line on which they would run with the Valentine's Special later on.
Eventually, after passing two of three more railway stations, as well as two junctions that joined to the line that led down to Norramby on the south-eastern coast, they reached the main junction at Vicky Road, where their line met up with the southern spur, the northern main line, and the line to the terminus at Vicarstown.
Approaching the junction, Carrie looked out from the fireman's side and could see the different lines merging onto each other from a number of different quarters, as well as the myriad of different points and the seemingly confusing layout of the tracks and points. She was astonished by how the tracks were laid out, and wondered how the poor signalman, or signalmen, controlling the junction would manage.
"Will we be able to get onto the right track?" she asked, with some concern.
"We will, Carrie. Don't worry, the signalmen who control this junction know what they're doing." Michael called from the front, as they rolled ahead over the points. Carrie felt herself smile at these reassuring words; after all, Michael had been working on Sodor for a very long time and so knew how things here worked.
They went over the points and were soon on the line that ran directly to Vicarstown. Passing through a forest on both sides of the three lines, and then going along a long and wide embankment, they were soon on the final stretch of this trip to Vicarstown. Carrie and Simon looked out from the sides of the cab, and soon, after passing onto a steel bridge over a wide canal, on both sides of which various canal boats were docked, they could see buildings ahead; at first it was a few single buildings with gardens at their rear, but then the buildings became more densely packed as they proceeded into Vicarstown proper.
As they went by the buildings, Carrie looked over at them to see what was happening; mostly she couldn't see much, just some people in their backyards hanging up washing, cleaning their yards and doing other odd tasks that needed to be done. In some of the windows, Carrie could see people at times; in one kitchen window, she saw one woman standing in her kitchen and washing dishes in the sink; in another window, this time in a conservatory, she saw a man busy watering his plants, and in another window, she thought she saw a small child looking out and waving at the train as it went by.
After a short while, they reached a junction where they went off to the right and were sent into the main freight yard not too far away from the main station in Vicarstown. As they entered the main yard and slowed down, Carrie noticed that there were about a dozen or so very long sidings, some of which were occupied to some extent by other trucks of many different shapes, sizes, and types, and they were heading into one of the ones that were empty.
"We'll park our train here, you two…" the driver said, as he slowly moved the train along the siding, "…and then we'll go over to the main engine depot."
"And there we'll be able to have a good rest and get some food into us…and then, we'll be able to get ourselves ready for the Valentine's Special later on today." said the fireman.
"Good…I am feeling a bit tired after this trip." Simon said.
"Yeah, and I think some food would be quite welcome right now…and a long lie down…and maybe a wash too." Carrie said, as she took off one of her gloves and wiped down her sweaty forehead. Simon smiled at her, and then he turned and leaned his head out the fireman's side.
The driver put on the brakes as they neared the end of the long siding, and they came to a very gentle stop. The shunters waiting at one side of the line went to action; one man went between the tender and first vehicle in the train, uncoupled the train and disconnected the brake pipe, as the other shunters went along one side of the train and began the process of uncoupling sections of the train, so the engines who worked in the depot would take parts of the train away to be assembled into other trains.
"And there we are…you're all uncoupled from this train. Time for you lot to head over to the engine depot and get some rest." said the shunter, after he had uncoupled the train and had disconnected the brake pipes too.
"Very good, and I'm eager to have a long rest and something to eat before we move onto our next job." the driver said.
Carrie looked at her watch; it was 11:15am, and they had arrived at their destination about 10 minutes ahead of schedule, not bad considering the detour they had to make by the airport a little earlier on in the morning, as well as the length and weight of the train they had to pull.
"Well then, let's get ourselves to the depot and get ourselves sorted out for later today." Carrie said, as she stretched her arms out.
"Good idea there, Carrie." the driver said, as he turned to look back ahead. Once given the all clear to go, he opened the regulator and they rolled ahead and over the points before they headed down the long straight stretch of line towards the main depot. All four of them were eager to get some rest before they went to get the Valentine's Day Special, and Michael was looking forward to getting some rest, a quick service, including getting any nasty clinker removed from the inside of his firebox, and a having a really good clean and polish in order to look presentable before he went to the station to collect his passengers that afternoon.
And there we are for this chapter, everyone! But remember, this is only the first part of the Valentine's Day Special part of the story. I promise that the next chapter to be posted will be the part where they go to the engine depot and rest up before they go and collect the Valentine's Special at Vicarstown Station and then take the train on the journey along the north line.
So please, stay tuned until then!